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The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is seeking comments from interested stakeholders on the content, practical implications, readability and accessibility of updates to Part 13 of the FOI Guidelines: Information Publication Scheme (v 1.6).
Background
The Australian Information Commissioner may issue guidelines under s 93A of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act). Section 93A of the FOI Act requires Australian Government ministers and agencies to have regard to these guidelines when performing a function or exercising a power under the FOI Act.
Part 13 of the FOI Guidelines provides guidance to assist Australian Government agencies subject to the FOI Act establish and maintain an Information Publication Scheme under Part II of the FOI Act.
The proposed revisions to Part 13:
- refresh links to internal and external resources
- update legislative references
- implement recommendations made in the Australian Information Commissioner’s report ‘Automated decision-making and public reporting under the Freedom of Information Act’ (January 2026)
- update content to reflect observations and trends identified in the Information Publication Scheme review survey 2023(June 2024) and the Freedom of Information Practitioners’ Survey 2024 (January 2025).
Key changes
- References to specific versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been removed. Information published on an agency’s IPS should comply with the latest applicable version of WCAG.
- Links to resources (both internal and external to the OAIC) and legislative references have been updated.
- [3.22] includes creation of an IPS information register as a way agencies can promote awareness of open by design principles within the agency, as well as enabling quick identification of documents that have been published on the agency’s website.
- A template/proforma information access register has been added as Appendix B.
- The section on operational information ([13.112]-[13.127]) has been updated to implement recommendations made in the Automated decision-making and public reporting under the Freedom of Information Act’ report.
- [13.124] has been added to make it clear that instruments authorising officers within an agency to make certain decisions or take certain actions fall within the definition of ‘operational information’ in s 8A( 1) of the FOI Act and so should be included on the agency’s IPS entry. This reflects existing guidance in Part 3 of the FOI Guidelines in relation to instruments authorising decision-making under the FOI Act.
- [13.130] has been updated to reflect that it is the Merit Protection Commissioner and not the Australian Public Service Commissioner who reviews decisions made with respect to APS employees.
- [13.150] has been added to refer to guidance prepared by the OAIC for SES staff in relation to their role in setting the standard for their agency’s IPS compliance.
- [13.170] has been updated to indicate the next review of the IPS will be undertaken by the OAIC in 2028.
How to make comments
Submissions can be sent to:
Email: guidanceandpublications@oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001
The closing date for comments is Friday 15 May 2026.
The OAIC intends to publish all submissions on the OAIC’s website. The OAIC is unable to consider any submissions made in confidence, so please ensure your submission does not contain confidential information that you do not want to be made public.
Although you can lodge submissions electronically or by post, electronic lodgement is preferred. To help us meet our accessibility obligations, we would appreciate you providing your submission in a web accessible format or, alternatively, in a format that allows us to easily convert it to HTML code — for example Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).
Privacy collection statement
The OAIC will use the personal information it collects during this consultation for the purpose of finalising updates to the FOI Guidelines and our ongoing engagement with you.
